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Erik Timmerman

Erik Timmerman

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V1 is so weird, and it looks like in the pictures above, maybe they are using opposite sides to one another. I was trying to work on opposite side poling, but #26 there seems to be poling on the side she is skating from.
 

Tony S

I have a confusion to make ...
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Lesson :ogbiggrin:

How much time did you spend skiing without any poles? Thought so.

Anyway, yeah V1 is weird until it's not. Counter-intuitive stuff is not uniquely the province of alpine skiing and golf.

While climbing in V1 the glide phase is a little longer on the non-poling side. In the case of both skiers above they are pushing more and poling on the right and gliding more on the left ski. You're seeing both in transition as they are poised to commit to the right ski before pushing off hard with it. Notice the Toe-Knee-Nose ("Tony Knows"!) alignment that's about to occur over the right foot. Blue is closer to being there than Black. That has to happen so the skier can pick up the other (left) foot at leisure and place it down for gliding when and only when it's time. Much easier to pull off when not climbing, of course!
 
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Thread Starter
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Erik Timmerman

Erik Timmerman

So much better than a pro
Instructor
Joined
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Posts
6,304
Lesson :ogbiggrin:

How much time did you spend skiing without any poles? Thought so.

Ha! Actually I skated a couple of K without the poles. It mostly made me realize that what I use the poles for is stability/separation as the first steps without it, I felt like my skis were trying to skid out as I skated from them. I brought the poles up higher too. Not sure if they are too short or not. They probably are.
 

Tony S

I have a confusion to make ...
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Ha! Actually I skated a couple of K without the poles. It mostly made me realize that what I use the poles for is stability/separation as the first steps without it, I felt like my skis were trying to skid out as I skated from them. I brought the poles up higher too. Not sure if they are too short or not. They probably are.

Nice going. You skied 20k, so you are doing a lot of things right, obviously.
 
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Erik Timmerman

Erik Timmerman

So much better than a pro
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Looks like Craftsbury is going to keep grooming as long as they can.
 

TrueNorth

Getting on the lift
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In general you are doing well for somebody who has only done it a few times, but the skiing in your video looks tiring. I’m impressed if you kept that up for 20k.

Try to slow your tempo and go for a longer glide. A rushed tempo is often a result of not being well balanced over the gliding ski, so you feel the need to take quick steps to avoid falling over. Practice with no poles, and stretch out each glide as much as you can.

Think about inserting a glide between each skate and pole motion. For the V2 (aka 1 skate) you are doing here, think skate-glide-pole-glide.

I think you are planting your poles too far back and relying too much on your arms to pole. Reach up higher, plant them about at your toes, and lean down into the poles with your upper body to get a more powerful pole action. Maybe practice double poling in the classic tracks. The first part of the poling action is like an ab crunch with little or no arm movement, then you extend your arms behind you as the crunch finishes.
 

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